Plans for Oreo's historic NYC home drawing fire

Critics say new towers would be eyesores and would increase traffic

Associated Press

Published 9:33 pm, Saturday, June 9, 2012

Photo: Bebeto Matthews

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In this May 30, 2012 photo, Michael Phillips, Jamestown Properties Chief Executive Officer, right, visits Jacob Dickson, owner of Dickson's Farmstand Meats, a Chelsea Market butchery, at Chelsea Market in New York. One hundred years after the introduction of the Oreo, the complex that was once the former home to Nabisco is slated for an expansion many neighborhood residents oppose. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews) less

In this May 30, 2012 photo, butchers prepare to cut fresh meats at Dickson's Farmstand Meats, a Chelsea Market butchery, at New York City's Chelsea Market. One hundred years after the introduction of the Oreo, the complex that was once the former home to Nabisco is slated for an expansion many neighborhood residents oppose. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews) less

In this May 30, 2012 photo, butchers prepare to cut fresh meats at Dickson's Farmstand Meats, a Chelsea Market butchery, at New York City's Chelsea Market. One hundred years after the introduction of the Oreo, ... more

Photo: Bebeto Matthews

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In this May 15, 2012 photo, visitors examine a model of the proposed expansion of the Chelsea Market in New York. One hundred years after the introduction of the Oreo, the complex that was once the former home to Nabisco is slated for an expansion many neighborhood residents oppose. (AP Photo/Richard Drew) less

In this May 15, 2012 photo, visitors examine a model of the proposed expansion of the Chelsea Market in New York. One hundred years after the introduction of the Oreo, the complex that was once the former home ... more

Photo: Richard Drew

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In this May 30, 2012 photo, Michael Phillips, Jamestown Properties Chief Executive Officer, sits during an interview at his office inside Chelsea Market in New York. One hundred years after the introduction of the Oreo, the complex that was once the former home to Nabisco is slated for an expansion many neighborhood residents oppose. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews) less

In this May 30, 2012 photo, Michael Phillips, Jamestown Properties Chief Executive Officer, sits during an interview at his office inside Chelsea Market in New York. One hundred years after the introduction of ... more

Photo: Bebeto Matthews

Plans for Oreo's historic NYC home drawing fire

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NEW YORK — One hundred years after the introduction of the Oreo, an expansion plan at the iconic cookie's New York City birthplace has left a bitter taste in the mouths of its neighbors.

Community activists say the two new towers that developer Jamestown Properties wants to affix to the historic factory known as Chelsea Market would be eyesores and would increase traffic and congestion.

But the company that bought a majority stake in Chelsea Market in 2003 says the block-long complex — home to the Food Network, Google and a tourist-friendly ground-floor food mall — must grow if it is to thrive.

Jamestown's plan to mount a new 250-foot box-like structure atop Chelsea Market's western section and a similar 150-foot structure on the eastern side is going through an approval process that will likely end with a City Council vote later this year.

Foodies outside New York may know Chelsea Market from shows like "Chopped" and "Food Network Stars" that are shot there. Its soup-to-nuts retail shops sell live lobsters, imported pasta and high-end cupcakes.

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"This is the American epicenter of food culture," said Michael Phillips, chief operating officer for Jamestown.

The market draws an average of 15,000 daily visitors, many of them tourists aiming cellphone cameras at architectural details like massive pipes and corrugated metal that recall the building's industrial past.

"I always like old buildings that have been refurbished," said Paul Hofer, visiting Monday from Horsham, Pa. "I find these places intriguing."

Chelsea Market's walls are decked out with artifacts from its heyday as the home of Nabisco, formerly the National Biscuit Co. A March 8, 1912, letter documents the sale of a shipment of the Oreo "variety" of biscuits to one S.C. Thusen of Hoboken, N.J.

Tourists don't see the 915,000 square feet of office space above. In addition to Google and the Food Network, tenants include all-news TV station New York 1 and Major League Baseball's website mlb.com.

In an interview in Jamestown's offices five floors above a kitchen-supply store, Phillips suggested that by expanding Chelsea Market the developer can attract more of the high-tech companies that exemplify Bloomberg's vision of New York as Silicon Alley, challenging California for geek supremacy.